Arizona Welfare to Work Policies Doing Little to Help Families

In 1979, one out of every two families with children living in poverty in Arizona participated in welfare assistance. In 2014, almost two decades after welfare reform, only one out of eleven families with children living in poverty in Arizona participated in the new program. Those who are able to participate receive a monthly average of only $93 per person in Arizona — one of the lowest rates of assistance in the country. Seven out of ten participants are children.

Welfare reform was supposed to help people move into employment, but as we’ve found in our research, Arizona needs to work harder on “welfare to work.” Currently, Arizona diverts most Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) federal block grant funding away from work supports: only 2.7% of TANF funds spent in Arizona went to work related activities and supports.